Lindenhurst, Amityville seek grants for downtown development

The villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville have hired grant writers to help with obtaining county, state and federal money for downtown development and other village projects.

For Lindenhurst, the hire comes with a push to secure more funding for the village by a Friday deadline. The village has hired Nicole Christian of Melville-based Harris Beach PLLC law firm. Christian has 12 years of grant-writing experience, Mayor Mike Lavorata said, adding she had secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money for Port Jefferson and Patchogue as well as other municipalities. Christian previously worked as deputy commissioner of community development for the Town of Brookhaven

“She’s a very smart lady and extremely diligent in her work,” Lavorata said. “I suspect she’s going to be very helpful to us and she’s going to open up a lot of doors.”

Christian has been hired at a stipend not to exceed $2,000 per month in order to assist the village with obtaining grants for infrastructure and downtown development.

The village has until 4 p.m. Friday to submit an application for the state Consolidated Funding Application. The grant sought is through the state’s local waterfront revitalization program and Empire State Development, and would be used for a downtown master development plan.

“The goal is to outline a comprehensive plan where we can say, ‘This is how we want to address the issues in our downtown, combining all the resources we have but not limited to what is written here,” said village trustee RJ Renna.

Amityville has approved hiring Nelson & Pope Engineers of Melville for grant writing at a cost of $25,000 for the fiscal year.

The village has used the company for grant writing since 2014, said village Clerk-Treasurer Catherine Murdock. The firm has won the village two grants: $80,000 from Suffolk County for downtown revitalization and $288,000 in federal money to create bike paths.

Murdock said the company is currently working on seeking a county grant for a sewage pump, and two state grants for road maintenance and tree inventory.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.